Population and Data Specialist

The Population and Data Specialist leads the Policy, Population and Data Unit of the UNFPA Nigeria Country Office, providing strategic support and technical expertise to advance demographic change, population dynamics, and evidence-based development planning. The role involves high-level policy dialogue, demographic intelligence, programme leadership, capacity development, and resource mobilization to support national development priorities and the UNFPA Strategic Plan.

Responsibilities

• Lead UNFPA engagement to integrate population dynamics into national development planning.
• Lead high level policy dialogue with Government counterparts, UN and other development partners to facilitate incorporation of UNFPA’s programme priorities and ICPD agenda into national policies, strategies and plans, UN systems initiatives and development and humanitarian frameworks.
• Participate in formulation, implementation, and review of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and contribute to UN system wide policy coherence.
• Translate global and regional frameworks and strategies using population data, trends and demographic intelligence to inform country specific strategies and advocacy.
• Provide support to programme teams in tracking Nigeria’s commitments to global, regional and national frameworks related to UNFPA’s agenda.
• Utilize population data, demographic trends and intelligence to inform policy dialogue, strategic planning and advocacy on population dynamics and SRHR.
• Develop and implement political engagement strategy and broker policy and political engagements with key stakeholders.
• Strengthen media and stakeholder engagement to raise awareness and generate public interest in UNFPA’s mandate and thematic areas.
• Represent UNFPA in strategic forums, coordination mechanisms, policy dialogues, and advocacy platforms.
• Support UNFPA’s integration and participation in the Delivering as One modality in Nigeria.
• Oversee support to Government of Nigeria in national census, population-based surveys, civil registration and vital statistics systems including technical assistance and resource mobilisation.
• Advocate and strengthen national capacity to gather, analyse and use disaggregated data to inform policies and programmes.
• Promote demographic foresight and gathering of demographic intelligence to advocate for investments in youth and harness demographic dividend.
• Support integration of migration policies informed by disaggregated migration data.
• Support Government use of demographic and geospatial data for climate change and humanitarian crisis planning.
• Ensure strategic collection, analysis and use of population data and demographic intelligence to inform advocacy strategies and policies.
• Support country programme design, implementation, monitoring and reporting with guidance to implementing partners.
• Act as UNFPA liaison with Government, civil society and other stakeholders on national priorities.
• Support evaluation of UNSDCF, Country Programme and Projects for evidence-based adaptation and scale up.
• Oversee management of Population and Data projects including budgeting, financial management, monitoring and reporting.
• Foster collaboration across thematic areas and national and sub-national levels for programming support.
• Prepare and disseminate reports on program performance and impact, comply with donor requirements.
• Promote knowledge management practices and support advocacy for scaling up successful interventions.
• Oversee Implementing Partners activities and provide technical support for grant beneficiaries and capacity building.
• Support development and implementation of capacity development strategies at national and sub-national levels.
• Recommend areas of technical assistance based on demographic and socioeconomic data and political context analysis.
• Support CO engagements with government, UN agencies, donors, civil society, academia and private sector on priority investments.
• Coordinate development and implementation of Resource Mobilization and Partnership Strategy.
• Support resource mobilization efforts by identifying local funding opportunities and contributing to proposals and donor reporting.
• Lead technical components in proposal writing and resource mobilization for joint programming and UN delivering as One initiative.
• Support CO management of funds to ensure efficient utilization and reporting.
• Contribute to CO communications and visibility efforts by generating human-interest stories and social media content.
• Undertake budget and expenditure analysis, investment case studies and cost of inaction studies to advocate for public finance leverage.
• Lead development of policy briefs and analytical reports to integrate UNFPA outcomes into national budgets and public investment frameworks.
• Perform other duties as assigned by UNFPA Representative, Deputy Representative, Regional Office or Headquarters.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Demography, Population Studies, Statistics, Geography, Economics, Public Health, Sociology, Development Studies, with an emphasis on demography, or related field, as well as a first-level university degree in any of the same fields.
• Programming experience is necessary to perform this task.
• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the field of Population and Data, with good knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Strong results-based programme management experience, with particular focus on strategic planning and capacity building.
• Previous experience working with the UN and understanding of Human Rights dimensions of Population and Data, an asset.
• Experience in national and/or sectoral policy dialogue, especially in the context of UN Reform and Joint Programming, and the new aid environment, would be a distinct advantage.
• Proficiency in current office software applications and corporate IT systems.
• Demonstrated ability to produce quality policy analysis, papers, and briefs.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to make compelling oral presentations.
• Understanding of development planning and policy processes.
• Experience in large scale national surveys and censuses.
• Highly motivated, proactive and ability to work both independently and in teams.
• Fluency in English is required - strong capability to communicate clearly and concisely in both oral and written English.

Skills

• Demography
• Population Studies
• Statistics
• Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Methods
• Programming
• Results-Based Programme Management
• Strategic Planning
• Capacity Building
• Policy Analysis
• Policy Dialogue
• Development Planning
• National Surveys
• Censuses
• UN Reform Knowledge
• Human Rights in Population
• Office Software Proficiency
• Corporate IT Systems
• Report Writing
• Oral Presentation

Languages

English